From the SCSM President

by Mark Peters

In her presidential address at the SCSM’s 2019 annual meeting, M. Jennifer Bloxam highlighted the many persons who had helped to further the work of the society in the previous year. It was an impressive report and included more than half of the SCSM’s non-student members. In the spirit of that celebration, I want to briefly highlight here some of the people who have been and are hard at work on behalf of the SCSM.

I begin on a somber note as we continue to remember Bob Judd, celebrate his life, and mourn his death. In addition to his faithful service as executive director of the American Musicological Society, Bob was instrumental in working with others to found the SCSM, and he hosted its first annual meeting at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. Thank you to Stephen Crist, who will on behalf of SCSM introduce and accompany the singing of “For All the Saints” during the November 1 celebration of Bob’s life at AMS. Please plan to join this celebration if you are attending AMS (please also join us at the SCSM reception directly after the celebration of Bob’s life).

Since beginning as SCSM president in February, I have seen much more how consistently the society’s leadership works year round. Thank you to Eftychia Papanikolaou (secretary), Siegwart Reichwald (treasurer), Hannah Denecke (graduate student representative), Adam Perez (webmaster), Joshua Waggener (vice-president), Chelle Stearns and Chad Fothergill (newsletter editors and blog curators), and the members of the executive committee for their ongoing service to the SCSM.

I’m excited to note the SCSM’s new logo, which appears already on the newsletter, blog, and website. The logo was designed by Mariah Nelesen, a senior student at Trinity Christian College majoring in Graphic Design and Spanish.

Thank you also to all those preparing for the SCSM’s annual meeting at Baylor University, especially our hosts, Monique Ingalls and Robin Wallace, and the members of the program committee: Jonathan Kregor, Nate Myrick, Emily Thelen, and Joshua Waggener (chair). The committee received one of our highest numbers of proposals ever and is at work now finalizing the program. Please see the SCSM’s website later in November for program and registration details. We look forward to seeing you at Baylor in February!

Thank you also to Andrew Shenton and Joanna Smolko, who are at work as co-editors of the SCSM’s next book, a collection of essays entitled Sacred Music in the Americas. The book, which we anticipate will be published in 2020, will be the second published by the SCSM, following Exploring Christian Song, edited by M. Jennifer Bloxam and Andrew Shenton (now available in paperback).

This book project and other publication initiatives are being supported by the SCSM’s newly formed publications committee. I’m also grateful for two ad hoc committees now at work, one exploring the possibilities of an online journal for student and early career scholars and the other exploring ways the SCSM can be more welcoming to scholars outside musicology and particularly to persons of color.

Please let me know if you’re willing to serve in relation to any of the initiatives outlined here or if you have other ideas the SCSM might pursue. Finally, please remember to renew your membership for 2019 if you haven’t already, and please consider donating to the Student Travel Fund or the Graduate Student Prize funds. You can do both through the SCSM website. Thank you!

Mark Peters is professor of music and director of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life at Trinity Christian College.